My grandma gave me this book many moons ago, when I was just a young girl. At the time, its reading level was above my range and the spiritual content most definitely was (and probably still is). She told me she knew it was for me. She told me that I’d want it someday. I said a quick thank you and stored it away but didn’t think of it much. There was no significant reason for her to give me the book. My parents named me Theresa, but not for any particular reason or with any particular person in mind. So sure, there was that, but no further draw to insist an 8 year old take home this book.
But I held on to it. And life went on. I grew and I failed and I succeeded, and all the usual life events unfolded. I went to college, debated if going to Mass was worth it, stuck with it, and learned more about the Catholic faith. I even met my future husband at Mass on campus. I took a job in the field that I thought I always wanted to be in, planned a move to a big city for that job, went to work in the big city for a week before moving, and decided I HATED it. So I stayed in my home state, got married, had a few kids. I left my initial dream job and ended up in a field I never studied for and got a job that I never saw coming; it was with a Catholic media company.
Here I dove deeper into the lives of the saints. A consummate lover of history, I enjoyed diving into their stories because they lived in a time often so different from ours, yet somehow always the same. I loved the heroics and hard fought battles against emperors and armies. I loved the quiet moments of personal battles, of overcoming vanity and praying through losses of even the littlest ones in their homes. I loved their ingenuity, their reason, and intellect. They were all people with such varying personalities, backgrounds, strengths and weaknesses that it truly makes one feel as though anyone can be a saint (and anyone can!).
It was not long before I was tasked with writing a short biography of St. Teresa of Avila. It needed to be very short, and I was busy as usual, so I did some quick research online and jotted down the article. Check. Next. But then my sister gifted me a book titled “The Four Teresas” by Gina Loehr, an excellent read analyzing the lives, missions and legacies of St. Thérèse of Liseux, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Teresa Benedicta, and St. Teresa of Calcutta. It was in reading this book, I came to realize: St. Teresa of Avila is my girl.
Admittedly, I could really use more of St. Thérèse and St. Teresa of Calcutta in my life. Their quiet, self sacrificing ways are areas in which I could definitely grow. But man, St. Teresa of Avila just speaks to my heart! She was feisty, determined, contemplative and resilient. She craved tradition and steady faith. She didn’t take a straight line to sainthood (few do) but MAN did she make it count. One of the four women to be named a Doctor of the Church, her reflections on prayer, perseverance, and Catholic theology make her a powerhouse. I just love her!
And looking back, it makes sense. My parents may have named me Theresa without any particular patron in mind, but God knew. He knew the minute I was knit in my mother’s womb that another feisty, determined, intelligent and resilient Teresa was on her way (and hopefully one day a saint too!). My Grandma knew when she gave me that book. The Holy Spirit knew when He nudged me to enter a relationship with my now husband, who’s only request for the wedding was that we get married at a parish run by the Discalced Carmelites (the branch of the Carmelite order which St. Teresa of Avila founded). And I knew today, on a cool, overcast fall day, and 28 years after receiving it, when I decided to sit down with the book my grandma gave me and finally open it, to greet a great friend on her feast day.
